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Every class in Heights Elementary is an IB classroom.

In each grade K-5, six IB planners are taught throughout the year. Each planner is four to six weeks long, and they include inquiry based learning with research and problem solving. Lessons are concept based; each developing a deeper conceptual understanding.

 

 

Who we are

An exploration of the nature of the self; of our beliefs and values; of personal health: physical, mental, social, spiritual; of our families, friends, communities and cultures; of our rights and responsibilities; of what it means to be human.

 

 

 

Where we are in place and time

 

An exploration of our orientation in place and time; of our personal histories and geographies; of history and geography from local and global perspectives; of our homes and journeys- actual and spiritual; of the greater journeys of humankind- the discoveries, explorations and migrations; of human achievements and the contributions of individuals and civilizations; of the descent and ascent of humankind; of the state of the race.

 

How we express ourselves

 

An exploration of the ways in which we discover and express our nature, ideas, feelings, beliefs and values through language and the arts.

 

 

How the world works

 

An exploration of the physical and material world; of natural and human-made phenomena; of the world of science and technology.

 

 

 

How we organize ourselves

An exploration of human systems and communities; of the world of work, its nature and its value; of employment and unemployment and their impact, both personal and global.

 

 

Sharing the planet

 

 

 

An exploration of our rights and responsibilities as we strive to share finite resources with other people, with other species; of individuals and communities, human and animal; of the relationships within and among them.

 

 

 

 

The PYP is transdisciplinary in nature. The identification of transdisciplinary themes (for example, who we are, how the world works) frame the concepts, skills, attitudes and actions linked to what is real and relevant in the world through the design of programmes of inquiry. The transdisciplinary themes ensure that curriculum and instruction move beyond factual coverage in discrete subject areas to an integrative synthesis of knowledge and conceptual understandings to better understand our world and our place within the world (IB 2010).